DOT HS 811 104 January 2009 Special Crash Investigations Counts of Frontal Air Bag Related Fatalities and Seriously Injured Persons This report is free of charge from the NHTSA Web site at www.nhtsa.dot.gov This publication is distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in the interest of information exchange. The opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Department of Transportation or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The United States Government assumes no liability for its content or use thereof. If trade or manufacturers’ names or products are mentioned, it is because they are considered essential to the object of the publication and should not be construed as an endorsement. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. The methods for estimating the number of “Registered Air Bag Equipped Vehicles,” and the “Fatalities Per Million Vehicle Years” have been modified to more accurately reflect the air bag exposure rates for drivers and passengers. In Tables 2 - 4, a new estimate for “Registered Air Bag Equipped Vehicles” was compiled by using R.L. Polk vehicle registration data. The new figures have been 1 modified to consider the attrition rates of vehicles on the road by model year, and the amount of time each vehicle was on the road during its first year. The current year’s estimate for the modified “Registered Air Bag Equipped Vehicles” is the same as the previous year’s “Registered Air Bag Equipped Vehicles.” These numbers will be updated when R.L. Polk current year vehicle registration data become available the following year. The quantity “Fatalities Per Million Vehicle Years” for a specific vehicle model year was previously calculated by dividing the count of occupants fatally injured by a deploying air bag for a given vehicle model year, by the product of the number of new vehicles registered that are air bag equipped for the given year and the number of years the vehicles of that year have been on the road. In the past when calculating the number of years vehicles of a given model year have been on the road, with the exception of the current MY, each vehicle was counted as being on the road for a full year. A new method of estimating the time each vehicle was on the road during its first year has been developed in which an even distribution of vehicle registrations is assumed throughout the year. Analysis of this distribution shows that a more accurate estimate of the time 2 each vehicle was on the road in its first production year is one half of a year. The quantity “Fatalities Per Million Vehicle Years” for a normalized 12-month period was previously calculated by dividing the count of occupants fatally injured by a deploying air bag for each 12-month production period by the total number of registered vehicles with air bags during that same interval. Each 12-month production period was aligned with the vehicle production year, September 1 through August 31. A change similar to the one made for the vehicle model year exposure estimate was made for the quantity “Fatalities Per Million Vehicle Years” for a normalized 12-month period. The new method divides the count of occupants fatally injured by a deploying air bag for each 12-month period by the sum of the total number of registered vehicles with air bags of the 3 previous model years and one half the registered vehicles of the vehicle model year that corresponds to the production period of the crash. 1 The attrition rate of a vehicle is dependent on the amount of time a vehicle has been on the road. Different estimated attrition rates were initially calculated for automobiles and light trucks. Estimated attrition rates were used from “Vehicle Survivability and Travel Mileage Schedules,” January 2006, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. 2 The estimate for the amount time a vehicle of a given model year has been on the road during the current vehicle model year is multiplied by a correction factor that is based on the month the data is generated. 3 The term “the previous model years” refers to the vehicle model years before the vehicle model year of the production period of the crash. COUNTS FOR FRONTAL AIR BAG RELATED FATALITIES AND SERIOUSLY INJURED PERSONS Counts for Confirmed Air Bag Related Fatalities through 1/1/2009: (US = 190; Puerto Rico = 1) 191 Children - RFCSS 29 - Not RFCSS 162 (US = 161; Puerto Rico = 1) Drivers (Adults) 92 Passengers (Adults) 13 TOTAL 296 Table 1 Counts For Confirmed and Unconfirmed * Air Bag Related Fatalities By Crash Year TOTALS BY YEAR FEMALES 62" OR LESS FATALS BY Children In Children NOT ADULT ADULT YEAR RFCSS In RFCSS DRIVERS PASSENGERS CONFIRMED [UNCONFIRMED] DRIVERS PASSENGERS 1990 0 [0] 0 [0] 1 [0] 0 [0] 1 [0] 1 [0] 0 [0] 1991 0 [0] 0 [0] 4 [0] 0 [0] 4 [0] 1 [0] 0 [0] 1992 0 [0] 0 [0] 3 [0] 0 [0] 3 [0] 2 [0] 0 [0] 1993 0 [0] 1 [0] 4 [0] 0 [0] 5 [0] 2 [0] 0 [0] 1994 0 [0] 5 [0] 8 [0] 0 [0] 13 [0] 1 [0] 0 [0] 1995 3 [0] 5 [0] 6 [0] 0 [0] 14 [0] 4 [0] 0 [0] 1996 6 [0] 19 [0] 7 [0] 2 [0] 34 [0] 2 [0] 0 [0] 1997 4 [0] 27 [0] 17 [0] 4 [0] 52 [0] 4 [0] 3 [0] 1998 5 [0] 27 [0] 14 [0] 2 [0] 48 [0] 6 [0] 1 [0] 1999 3 [0] 18 [0] 3 [0] 0 [0] 24 [0] 2 [0] 0 [0] 2000 0 [0] 9 [0] 9 [0] 2 [0] 20 [0] 3 [0] 0 [0] 2001 2 [0] 14 [0] 3 [0] 0 [0] 19 [0] 0 [0] 0 [0] 2002 3 [0] 9 [0] 1 [0] 1 [0] 14 [0] 1 [0] 1 [0] 2003 0 [0] 6 [0] 6 [0] 1 [0] 13 [0] 2 [0] 1 [0] 2004 1 [0] 8 [0] 2 [0] 1 [0] 12 [0] 0 [0] 0 [0] 2005 1 [0] 5 [0] 2 [0] 0 [0] 8 [0] 2 [0] 0 [0] 2006 1 [0] 6 [0] 2 [0] 0 [0] 9 [0] 0 [0] 0 [0] 2007 0 [0] 2 [0] 0 [0] 0 [0] 2 [0] 0 [0] 0 [0] 2008 0 [0] 1 [1] 0 [2] 0 [0] 1 [3] 0 [0] 0 [0] 2009 0 [0] 0 [0] 0 [0] 0 [0] 0 [0] 0 [0] 0 [0] TOTAL 29 [0] 162 [1] 92 [2] 13 [0] 296 [3] 33 [0] 6 [0] *Note:The unconfirmed counts are in brackets. **Note: 62 inches or less value is the result of a temporary change in aggregate methodology that has now been reversed. ESTIMATED GROSS NUMBER OF LIVES SAVED BY AIR BAGS AS OF 1/1/2009 28244 total: 23127 drivers (9128 belted, 13999 not belted) and 5117 front-right passengers (2234 belted, 2883 not belted) Status of air bag related fatality and serious injury cases during the period 7/2/08 - 1/01/09: Five crash investigations were added to the summary tables: 5-fatal children Four crash investigations were initiated by SCI: 2-fatal adults, 2-fatal children Note: These cases have not been confirmed during this period. Two of these cases have been dropped. Field investigations continued on nine previously initiated crash investigations: 8-fatal children, 1-nonfatal child Five crash investigations were dropped during this period: 2-fatal children, 1-nonfatal child, 1-fatal adult, 1-nonfatal adult Summary tables for Air Bag Related Fatality and Serious Injury cases are available through the NHTSA website, http://www.nhtsa.gov/ COUNTS FOR AIR BAG RELATED FATALITIES AND SERIOUSLY INJURED PERSONS (CONTINUED) 01/01/2009 CHILDREN CONFIRMED AS RECEIVING A FATAL INJURY RELATED TO AN AIR BAG 1 Children fatally injured by the PAB 183 (US=182; Puerto Rico= 1) - Rear Facing child safety seats 29 - Forward Facing child safety seats 8 2 - Unrestrained or improperly restrained children (with pre-impact braking) 115 (US=114; Puerto Rico= 1) (without pre-impact braking) 19 (unknown pre-impact braking) 4 - Wearing lap and shoulder belt (with pre-impact braking) 3 (without pre-impact braking) 5 3 Children fatally injured by the DAB 8 CHILDREN CONFIRMED AS RECEIVING A LIFE THREATENING INJURY RELATED TO AN AIR BAG Children with life threatening injuries by the PAB 38 - Rear Facing child safety seats 8 - Forward Facing child safety seats 3 - Unrestrained or improperly restrained children (with pre-impact braking) 18 (without pre-impact braking) 3 (unknown pre-impact braking) 2 - Wearing lap and shoulder belt 3 (with pre-impact braking) (without pre-impact braking) 1 Children with life threatening injuries by the DAB 1 DRIVERS CONFIRMED AS RECEIVING A FATAL INJURY RELATED TO AN AIR BAG Fatal Drivers 92 - Drivers belted 27 - Drivers misused belt 3 - Drivers not belted 58 - Unknown if driver belted 4 DRIVERS CONFIRMED AS RECEIVING A LIFE THREATENING INJURY RELATED TO AN AIR BAG Driver Life Threatening Injuries 11 - Drivers belted 6 - Drivers misused belt 0 4 - Drivers not belted 5 - Unknown if driver belted 0 ADULT PASSENGERS CONFIRMED AS RECEIVING A FATAL INJURY RELATED TO AN AIR BAG Fatal Passengers 13 - Passengers belted 5 - Passengers misused belt 1 - Passengers not belted 7 - Unknown if passenger belted 0 ADULT PASSENGERS CONFIRMED AS RECEIVING A LIFE THREATENING INJURY RELATED TO AN AIR BAG Seriously Injured Passengers 9 - Passengers belted 6 - Passengers misused belt 0 - Passengers not belted 1 - Unknown if passenger belted 2 1 PAB refers to the Passenger Airbag 2 Improperly restrained children consists of children that either shared the same lap belt, used only a lap belt, or wore a shoulder belt under the arm. 3 DAB refers to the Driver Airbag 4 An unbelted pregnant female sustained an abruption of the placenta from the uterine wall and the fetus subsequently expired. See case CA9509. NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATISTICS AND ANALYSIS SPECIAL CRASH INVESTIGATIONS CHILDREN FATALLY INJURED BY PAB** NORMALIZED BY VEHICLE REGISTRATIONS Confirmed and Unconfirmed* January 1, 2009 Vehicle Model Year (in millions of vehicles) 1987-88 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Total Registered Passenger Air 0.000 0.061 0.144 0.037 0.405 1.311 5.918 9.987 10.240 13.690 14.491 16.070 17.065 16.402 16.883 15.575 15.375 15.527 14.317 14.317 14.317 0.000 212.132 Bag Equipped Vehicles Vehicle Model Year Crash Date 1987-88 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Total Sep 87 to Aug 88 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sep 88 to Aug 89 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sep 89 to Aug 90 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sep 90 to Aug 91 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sep 91 to Aug 92 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sep 92 to Aug 93 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Sep 93 to Aug 94 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Sep 94 to Aug 95 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Sep 95 to Aug 96 0 0 0 1 0 6 9 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 Sep 96 to Aug 97 0 0 0 0 0 4 12 7 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 Sep 97 to Aug 98 0 0 0 0 0 4 15 5 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 34 Sep 98 to Aug 99 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 3 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 Sep 99 to Aug 00 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 6 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 Sep 00 to Aug 01 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 5 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Sep 01 to Aug 02 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 Sep 02 to Aug 03 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Sep 03 to Aug 04 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Sep 04 to Aug 05 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Sep 05 to Aug 06 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Sep 06 to Aug 07 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Sep 07 to Aug 08 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Sep 08 to Aug 09 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 0 1 4 25 62 37 33 9 5 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 184 Fatalities/Million Vehicle 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.197 0.248 0.355 0.539 0.330 0.234 0.065 0.035 0.022 0.025 0.009 0.012 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Years *Confirmed cases are those where the air bag has been confirmed to be the injury mechanism. Unconfirmed cases are crashes under active investigation where the air bag is suspected of being the injury mechanism. **The report totals do not contain cases where the children were fatally injured by the driver air bag. Chart 1 National Center for Statistics and Analysis Special Crash Investigations Children Fatally Injured by PAB Normalized for a 12-Month Period 1.200 1.000 0.800 0.600 0.400 0.200 0.000 92-93 93-94 94-95 95-96 96-97 97-98 98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 12-Month Period January 1, 2009 Chart 2 National Center for Statistics and Analysis Special Crash Investigations Children Fatally Injured by Passenger Air Bags By Vehicle Model Year 1.200 1.000 0.800 0.600 0.400 0.200 0.000 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Vehicle Model Year January 1, 2009 Note: The bar charts above are shown using a different scale than the other two sets of bar charts Fatalities/ Million Vehicle Years Fatalities/ Million Vehicle Years January 1, 2009 CASES FROM THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATISTICS AND ANALYSIS SPECIAL CRASH INVESTIGATIONS PROGRAM INFANTS IN REAR FACING CHILD SAFETY SEATS WHO SUSTAINED FATAL OR SERIOUS INJURIES IN MINOR TO MODERATE SEVERITY AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT CRASHES Fatal Case Case Status Crash Date Invest Date St Age Sex Ht (IN) Wt (LB) Restraint Use Vehicle Vehicle Vehicle Change In Pre- Injury Injury Count Number Model Year Make Model Velocity Impact Descriptions Source (MPH) Braking DS94023 AVAILABLE Nov-94 Dec-94 CA 3 MO FEMALE 20 13 YES - BELTS USED; 1994 COROLLA TOYOTA 11-18 YES NON-FATAL SKULL PAB FLAP; PROPERLY SECURED FXS PAB; CHILD IN RFCSS SEAT BACK 1 CA95016 AVAILABLE Jul-95 Jul-95 PA 3 WK FEMALE 24 11 YES - BELTS USED; 1995 FORD ESCORT 20-24 YES SKULL FXS; BRAIN PAB FLAP; PROPERLY SECURED INJURY PAB; CHILD IN RFCSS SEAT BACK 2 DS95019 AVAILABLE Sep-95 Sep-95 CA 5 MO FEMALE 27 20 YES - BELTS USED; 1994 TOYOTA CAMRY <10 YES SKULL FXS; BRAIN PAB FLAP; PROPERLY SECURED INJURY PAB; CHILD IN RFCSS SEAT BACK 3 CA95022 AVAILABLE Oct-95 Nov-95 LA 4 MO MALE 24 17 YES - BELTS USED; 1995 SATURN SL1 12-14 YES SKULL FXS; BRAIN PAB; CHILD PROPERLY SECURED INJURY SEAT BACK IN RFCSS See end of document for defintions of terms, abbreviations and notes Page 1 of 10 January 1, 2009 CASES FROM THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATISTICS AND ANALYSIS SPECIAL CRASH INVESTIGATIONS PROGRAM INFANTS IN REAR FACING CHILD SAFETY SEATS WHO SUSTAINED FATAL OR SERIOUS INJURIES IN MINOR TO MODERATE SEVERITY AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT CRASHES Fatal Case Case Status Crash Date Invest Date St Age Sex Ht (IN) Wt (LB) Restraint Use Vehicle Vehicle Vehicle Change In Pre- Injury Injury Count Number Model Year Make Model Velocity Impact Descriptions Source (MPH) Braking DS95022 AVAILABLE Oct-95 Nov-95 CA 6 MO MALE UNK 15 YES - BELTS USED; 1995 FORD ESCORT <10 YES NON-FATAL SKULL PAB; CHILD PROPERLY SECURED FXS SEAT BACK IN RFCSS DS95025 AVAILABLE Nov-95 Dec-95 CO 3 MO MALE 25 15 YES - BELTS USED; 1994 FORD ASPIRE 9 YES NON-FATAL SKULL PAB FLAP; PROPERLY SECURED FXS PAB; CHILD IN RFCSS SEAT BACK IN95021 AVAILABLE Nov-95 Dec-95 WI 7 WK MALE 22 10 YES - BELTS USED; 1996 DODGE CARAVAN 12-17 YES NON-FATAL SKULL PAB; CHILD PROPERLY SECURED FXS SEAT BACK IN RFCSS 4 CA96002 AVAILABLE Jan-96 Feb-96 NJ 4 MO MALE 24 20 MIS-USED - BELTS NOT 1995 ISUZU TROOPER 15 NO LARGE SUBDURAL PAB FLAP; USED PROPERLY; AND EPIDURAL PAB; CHILD PROPERLY SECURED HEMATOMA; SKULL SEAT BACK IN RFCSS FXS; SUBARACHNOID HEMORRHAGE See end of document for defintions of terms, abbreviations and notes Page 2 of 10 January 1, 2009 CASES FROM THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATISTICS AND ANALYSIS SPECIAL CRASH INVESTIGATIONS PROGRAM INFANTS IN REAR FACING CHILD SAFETY SEATS WHO SUSTAINED FATAL OR SERIOUS INJURIES IN MINOR TO MODERATE SEVERITY AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT CRASHES Fatal Case Case Status Crash Date Invest Date St Age Sex Ht (IN) Wt (LB) Restraint Use Vehicle Vehicle Vehicle Change In Pre- Injury Injury Count Number Model Year Make Model Velocity Impact Descriptions Source (MPH) Braking 5 LTC96018 AVAILABLE May-96 May-96 FL 8 MO FEMALE 27 19 YES - BELTS USED; 1994 TOYOTA CAMRY 10 UNK BRAIN INJURY PAB PROPERLY SECURED IN RFCSS 6 CA96008 AVAILABLE Apr-96 May-96 FL 3 MO MALE 23 18 YES - BELTS USED; 1995 HYUNDAI ACCENT 19-24 YES HEAD INJURIES PAB; CHILD PROPERLY SECURED SEAT BACK IN RFCSS 7 IN96017 AVAILABLE Jun-96 Jul-96 IL 1 WK FEMALE 18 8 NO - RFCSS HELD IN 1995 FORD ESCORT 8 YES HEAD INJURIES PAB LAP OF PASSENGER; PROPERLY SECURED IN RFCSS CA96013 AVAILABLE Sep-96 Oct-96 GA 5 MO MALE 28 19 YES - BELTS USED; 1996 SATURN SW2 6 YES NON-FATAL SKULL PAB FLAP; PROPERLY SECURED FX; CONTUSION OF PAB; CHILD IN RFCSS THE LEFT FRONT SEAT BACK TEMPORAL AREA WITH A SMALL SUBDURAL HEMATOMA See end of document for defintions of terms, abbreviations and notes Page 3 of 10